The Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands () is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction or

apostolic prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. The apostolic prefecture is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese of Agaña (with its see on

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

), yet still depends on the

Dicastery for Evangelization The Dicastery for Evangelization is a department (dicastery) of the Roman Curia. It was created on 5 June 2022 through the merger of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peop ...

. Although the see of the prefecture, the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

, in

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ' ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain, Ratak ( ...

, on

Majuro Atoll Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The at ...

, is not in the United States, the

prelature A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

includes

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

, which is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States.

Statistics

, there were 5,123 Catholics (8.7% of the population) on 181 km² of islands in a marine area nearly the size of the United States, served by 6 priests, 3 deacons and 6 nuns across 5 parishes.Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
/ref>

History

Missionaries from the Order of

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; ; ) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges. The motto of the Missionaries of the S ...

(M.S.C.) arrived in 1898. In 1905, a pre-diocesan jurisdiction was established as

Mission sui juris In the Canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an Ecclesial community, ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with expli ...

of Marshall Islands, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of New Pomerania (mainly

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

, in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

). On April 5, 1923, the independent mission was suppressed, its territory being merged into the then Apostolic Vicariate of Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands. On April 23, 1993,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

split the former Diocese of Carolines-Marshalls into the Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands and the Diocese of Caroline Islands. In 2007, Father James Gould, apostolic prefect, resigned. Father Raymundo Sabio, a Filipino missionary, was chosen to succeed him.

Ordinaries

; ''Ecclesiastical Superior of the ''mission sui iuris'' Marshall Islands * Father Bruno Schinxe,

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; ; ) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges. The motto of the Missionaries of the Sacre ...

(M.S.C.), (1905 - death 1915) ; ''Apostolic Prefects of Marshall Islands'' # James Charles Gould,

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

(S.J.) (born USA) (23 April 1993 – resigned 21 December 2007), no other prelature # Raymundo Taco Sabio,

(M.S.C.) (born

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

) (22 December 2007 – retired 28 June 2017), no previous prelature # Ariel Galido, M.S.C. (born Philippines) (28 June 2017 – resigned 14 January 2025), no previous prelature # Tamati Alefosio Sefo, M.S.C. (born

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

) (14 January 2025 – ...), no previous prelature

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with Google map and - satellite photo - data for all sections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall Islands, Apostolic Prefecture * Apostolic prefectures Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Agaña Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century

Religious organizations established in 1993 Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transc ...

Statistics

History

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links